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Bale Dalton Knows the Mission · Blue Dog Radio

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Blue Dog Radio.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Today, we're headed to Central Florida.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Florida's 7th Congressional District is comprised of Seminole and Volusia counties.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: It is old Florida and fast-growing Florida at the same time.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is aerospace, agriculture, retirees, veterans, small businesses, and families trying to keep up with housing, insurance, health care, and power bills.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Our guest today is Bale Dalton.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Bale is a Central Florida native, a Naval Academy graduate, a Navy helicopter pilot, a former NASA chief of staff, and a Blue Dog endorsed Democrat running in Florida 7.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: But this conversation is less about the resume and more about what that breadth of work and life experience reveals.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's a conversation about place, responsibility, local leadership, and what it takes to restore trust in government at a time when too many people feel like they are doing everything right and still falling behind.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Here is our conversation with Bale Dalton.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Bale Dalton, welcome to Blue Dog Radio.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get into it, who is Bale Dalton outside of a campaign bio?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I am uh a pilot, you know, trained by the Navy to fly airplanes and helicopters.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, I love being in the air.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's just an amazing uh skill to have, but it's an amazing thing to be able to do and to share that with friends.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there was a time where I was in uh grad school and we were able to uh uh to rent a helicopter and fly over uh Boston and show folks the sights and also, you know, introduce them to the joy of flight.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: So uh certainly that is a fun part of my life.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, look, yeah, as you know, I was born and raised here in Central Florida in this district.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: And the things that bring me joy uh here are the things that bring a lot of people joy.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, hunting, uh, hunting with my dogs or going fishing, especially uh for redfish in Indian River Lagoon.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, these are the things I grew up doing, and uh I must have liked them pretty good as a kid because I still I still like them now.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: So um also a pretty voracious reader.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my mom was a uh a school teacher before us kids came around and uh she instilled that in us, and uh we we still share books throughout our family.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: So a little bit of a nerd streak in there as well, but uh I like all genres.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: So uh those are the things that uh I I enjoy doing in the very small amount of time that I have outside of a game painting at the moment.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: You grew up in Central Florida.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: What did this place teach you before you ever got to the Naval Academy?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, when I was a kid growing up, there was a whole lot less of this uh, you know, political divide.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm sure uh that folks, you know, were obviously registered Republicans or registered Democrats, but as a kid, I just remember, you know, growing up in an incredible neighborhood that really cared about each other as neighbors and cared about, you know, each other's kids.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, there was a group of kids that I went to elementary, middle, and high school with uh all around, still stay in touch with uh many of those folks.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, I think that's what makes this community great is that folks, you know, have a large diversity of thought.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: There's a large diversity of uh industries.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um and what really makes us strong is the ability to you know live together as neighbors and communities.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, I think that's one of the things that is uh starting to go away.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and for uh reasons that are explainable by just how tough it is for people to get ahead these days in a system that seems to be stacked up against them.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, I think that you know has a psychological effect.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, when the TV tells you you're supposed to hate your neighbor if they don't think exactly alike uh or exactly like you, you know, all day, every day, that starts to take effect.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned your mom was a school teacher.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of family were you raised in and what part of that Central Florida kid is still very much inside of you?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: I was uh, you know, I was very blessed to grow up in a in a loving family uh with two parents who are very concerned with making sure that we as their kids um you know grew up uh loving our neighbors and also um you know being good citizens uh in society.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, um my mom uh used to give us uh uh Bible verses that were attributed to uh our birthdays.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and uh so I'm uh on June 8th, uh so Isaiah 6.8, which is, you know, and a voice cried out, Who will who will go for us?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Here am I, Lord, send me.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that is something that for um you know for my entire life has instilled that sense of of duty and service that my parents instilled in us.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And my siblings are amazing human people as well.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: I have great nieces and nephews.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my two sisters are the best moms that I've ever seen.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we've got uh, you know, my younger brother who's the adventurer.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so we just have a great dynamic.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I like sharing that with folks because, you know, this community, my my family unit, but as well as my neighbors and teachers and mentors and boy scout leaders.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, those are the folks who um those are the folks who affected me uh in a positive way very early on and led to all these different things that I got to do in my career.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and none of none of them very easy, uh, but the all of them um, you know, directed to what we can do in service to others.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that was huge.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: And it's something that is still um a big part of our family today and uh and all the different things that we do.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, what keeps me as a kid?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: I got some great nieces and nephews who are experiencing the world today for all of its goods and some of its ills as well.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: And uh to be an uncle and try to instill some advice and instill some of that um, you know, public service and uh also, you know, love your neighbor that was instilled in me, I think is hugely important.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I like to see it taking effect in these kids that are the future of our family.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, why the Naval Academy?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And what did the Navy give you that you did not have before?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, my grandfather and namesake was uh was a World War II pilot.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he was a naval aviator in the Pacific Theater and a real hero, um, a Navy cross winner, multiple silver stars, uh, multiple distinguished flying crosses, and uh multiple air medals.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I must have been a glutton for punishment to think that I could uh possibly fill those shoes.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: I certainly could not of uh of uh a member of the greatest generation.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um unfortunately, he was killed in a service-related crash uh when my dad was uh very young.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I I never met my uh grandfather on my dad's side.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, my my mom's dad was a rough knack on the Ole Riggs in East Texas.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so you know, somebody that uh, you know, worked uh very hard to provide for, you know, this whole country, not just their community through uh energy production.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that um sense of work ethic and that sense of of service comes, you know, from generations uh that came well before me.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the Navy is what had brought my family to this area in the first place.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we don't have Naval Air Station Sanford anymore, but we do have a great airport in its place in Sanford Orlando International Airport.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so I'm just I'm blessed that uh throughout some very hard times for my family, with you know, folks uh, you know, dying before their time, um, is is actually what uh helped instill that service, but also what brought us to this incredible place here in Central Florida.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: I can imagine that flying helicopters requires a lot of trust and Medavac missions teach urgency in a very real way.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: What did you learn about making decisions when the stakes are high and time is of the essence?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thanks for that.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, my my grandfather was a fighter pilot, so I always thought I also wanted to be a fighter pilot, but uh the needs of the Navy sent me somewhere else to be a helicopter pilot.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: But I I count that as one of the greatest things that's happened to my life because I was part of a crew.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, helicopters in the Navy have two pilots and at least one air crewman.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, I got my start doing uh search and rescue.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, very early in my career, uh provided um uh relief to the Gulf Coast post-Hurricane Katrina, which uh, you know, led from uh, you know, picking folks up out of the water and off their roofs to taking food and water and sustenance throughout, you know, the Gulf Coast areas, even you know, inland Alabama and Mississippi.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I just thought that, you know, that that kind of fits me perfectly to start out, but also what I learned is just the incredible power that teams have.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and working in a crew concept uh type aircraft like the helicopter, whether we're doing special operations assault or search and rescue and medical evacuations, um, you know, just shows the power of a team.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, as far as urgency, yeah, you know, we I was faced with uh quite a few life and death decisions, both as a junior officer and a young pilot trying to be an aircraft commander, as well as being the commanding officer of the Navy Special Operations Support Squadron.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, when you are tasked with providing either that first level of medical care or when you are tasked with bringing in, you know, the guns and missiles required by the team on the ground that's in combat, uh, those are life and death decisions that are dependent on making the right decision with just seconds to go.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: What does service really cost a family and what does America owe the people it sends into danger?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, we owe there is absolutely a contract between us as a society and us as the country of the United States of America to those who put their lives on the line uh to go and uh provide uh defense of our country to all areas uh of abroad.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that is a is a sacred trust.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know that we as a society have fulfilled that trust in every respect.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, certainly in our history, we can go back to the post-Vietnam era.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the things that concerns me about um, you know, the era that we are in today is that fewer and fewer families throughout America are, you know, seeing that form of sacrifice in service, right?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: We have, you know, we've been doing fairly well um with recruitment and retention, but we're seeing, you know, generations sort of like myself, right, who have experienced uh military service, you know, passing that on.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a great thing.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, the number of Americans and the percentage of Americans that have truly been touched and their family by knowing, you know, a family member who's done that um service has has decreased.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the trouble with that is that we have to continually pay attention to what is owed uh to the folks that uh you know come back from that service.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we've seen with the Veterans Administration um, you know, some improvements and getting folks uh appointments on time, but and we've also seen folks that are interested uh apparently in tearing down uh that system because of the cost it takes.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: But if this is the if this is the cost of what it takes to defend our country abroad, we have to be willing to and in fact program in those costs of how to take care of the people who have taken care of us.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: After the Navy, your path eventually led to NASA.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: How did that journey happen?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And what did NASA teach you about what government can still do well?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Because I went to the Naval Academy, I owed a certain amount of years of service.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: And because I was a naval aviator, I owed a few more years of service uh to pay back for flight school.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and you know, in my 10 years of active duty experience immediately following graduation, you know, I had been in Kuwait and Iraq doing medical evacuations.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: I went to Iraq three more times uh doing special operations assault.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then I was on the ground in Afghanistan as a forward air controller for the SEAL teams in Southeast Afghanistan.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so those were incredible experiences.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: But when I reached the end of my commitment, I thought that, you know, there were opportunities to do public service in another way.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so I transitioned in the reserves.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still in the reserves today.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: So it's now been a 24-year uh Navy and Navy reserve adventure and counting, um, and uh decided to go to grad school.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I wanted to focus in public policy, which I did, and uh parlayed that uh education into getting to serve Floridians on behalf of Senator Nelson when he was our senator.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I was very happy doing that, especially as uh, you know, a big part of my job was uh veteran services, uh making sure that our, you know, Florida veterans got the care that they needed and the benefits that they earned post their service.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I was recalled to active duty.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I commanded the Navy's Special Operations uh helicopter squadron um throughout the Horn of Africa and throughout the Pacific, providing crisis response and also fighting the terror elements in those areas.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, by virtue of that service, when uh Senator Nelson was asked to be the NASA administrator, I was very flattered uh that he thought I might be a good addition to the team to help lead NASA.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that was an amazing adventure, which again, you know, parts of it very near and dear to my heart as a Central Floridian, watching uh, you know, space shuttles go off all the way back to when I was in in kindergarten.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: And uh in fact, uh, you know, in 1986, witnessed the uh Challenger explosion as one of my earliest memories.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, all of those experiences, plus the ability to get to help lead teens at NASA throughout our whole country, you know, showed me not only uh is there value in making, you know, these risky endeavors, right?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, go back to uh Kennedy and talking about uh the importance of uh space exploration, not just to our DNA as human beings to explore this incredible gift that we're given both on Earth and throughout the universe, uh, but also to ensure that we are staying at the forefront of research and development and uh developing emerging technologies.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and all of these things uh came to a point and to a forefront uh there at NASA.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Just incredible human people that are out there uh applying their skill sets, applying their smarts and education, and applying their work.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I talk about every single rocket launch starts with a weld or a bolt inserted, you know, five or ten years before that launch.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's an incredible shared experience for our whole country, both to see how our you know, industry and our technology and research and science are able to do these incredible things, but they're only able to be accomplished through these incredible teams and these incredible human beings uh that are putting themselves, uh uh putting their skills and their attention to these awesome endeavors.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what happens to a country when it stops trying to do big things?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: At best, you just you know you're you're in a stasis environment, right?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: You just you uh folks seem to be more interested in either preserving a status quo or selfishly preserving their own status quo, which unfortunately I think we've seen in our politics today, and that uh, you know, our politicians in DC seem to be more interested in staying close to power or staying uh, you know, staying in a job uh with a salary at taxpayers' expense rather than, you know, trying to ensure that they are focused on the service that they were put there to do.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, in the environment that we're in now, when I talk to folks throughout the district, you know, folks are very concerned about how am I making ends meet tomorrow, next week, at the end of the month.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: And when we have bad policy decisions coming out of DC that directly make life more difficult in the day-to-day, it takes away energy and it takes away time and space for us to be thinking about the big things that we need to accomplish to continue to try uh to, you know, meet that challenge from our founders to create a more perfect union.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so I do think that um, you know, there's a number of different avenues that we can go about in order to try to solve these problems so that we can be thinking about big things and making sure we're passing on to our kids and future generations an even greater opportunity and an even greater experience.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I think unfortunately, where we are right now is folks are are so concerned with what is going on right now and are so concerned with the fact that they can't make ends meet and are worried about one health emergency putting their family in dire straits, uh, that we've taken our eye off the ball of what we can do when we're all working together again to create this more perfect union.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: We have got to make better policy decisions so that folks are taken care of.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you're out there working hard and doing the right thing, then you should be able to get ahead.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just not what's happening right now.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, my fear is not only are we in neutral or in stasis, but you know, we're we're actually going backwards.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that's that's not what this country was founded on, and that's not what we as Americans should expect from the opportunities that our government can provide us as we work together as a society.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Can you describe Florida 7th District as someone who only knows Florida from headlines?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this I mean, Florida 7 is an incredible district.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the folks in Seminole and Volusia County, uh, you know, we are we're old Florida here that's got uh, you know, an incredible diversity of thought, incredible diversity of people and industry.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, this district is sort of in the I-4 corridor on our on our western boundary with uh a lot of folks in health services.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, uh aeronautics and aerospace is big to Central Florida, both with the research park at UCF, uh, which uh um you know feeds NASA and the DOD and our emerging emerging technologies, you know, all the way up to Embry Riddle and Daytona at the you know, top northeast, uh adjacent to this district, uh, providing aeronautics uh experience uh to our young folks, especially as who want to get into the trades, you know, of building and creating, which is what you know, America should be all about.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: We've got an agricultural region that's sort of in the middle of our district.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um Sanford, where I live, you know, I actually live in this district and was, you know, uh uh brought up here in Central Florida.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, we've got uh old orange groves that are experiencing some challenges that every agricultural uh family and farm uh farm family out there is experiencing.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, we've got a big problem with citrus greening that we need to solve uh there.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, Sanford used to be known as Celery City.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this area produced uh a very large percentage of the world's celery a couple of decades ago.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then all the way to the east, we've got the Atlantic coast running from just south of Daytona down to New Sumrna Beach, which is providing some of the most gorgeous parts of Florida where people, you know, choose to make their home in their uh retirement, um in their retirement years, and where people like me are never going to uh uh are never going to uh leave Florida because of these amazing things that our natural resources provide.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a really cool district with just some amazing people in it uh that are uh you know going from, again, enjoying uh some of their restful years uh in retirement to making sure that they're parts of the engine of our society that's uh creating that more perfect union that we were talking about.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of voter right now is being ignored by both parties?
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: And what does Florida's seventh need from Congress that it's currently not getting?
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think the people that feel like they're being ignored and frankly are ignored here in Seminole and Volusia County by our incumbent Congressman Mills, folks that are like, hey, look, I've done all the right things.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I've done what I'm supposed to do, uh, and I can't provide for my family, and I can't provide for future generations.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that is extremely frustrating for folks because they're, you know, they're they're ticking all the boxes, right?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: They're doing what they are supposed to be doing.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we've got a government that seems to either be, you know, taking away from things that I think are sacred contracts, you know, cuts to Medicaid, taking money out of rural hospitals.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, these are things that Corey Mills has voted for that actively make Floridians' lives harder.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we've got a health insurance and a health care problem in this country that has that spans decades, that uh, you know, has yet to be solved.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, taking ACA subsidies away, again, another thing that Congressman Mills voted actively to let these ACA subsidies expire, that's put people in very dire straits, which, you know, folks that know that they can't miss a day of work and still provide for their families, and putting families, you know, one health emergency away from a catastrophe.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: That is not the type of security that we should be able to expect here in a country like the United States.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that those are the voters that are being ignored because they're like, you know, hey, I've tried to do the right thing and vote for the right people, and I don't seem to be getting the results that uh that I deserve.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I'm in this race to try to correct, is to give folks a choice of somebody that is, you know, laser focused on the issues that are affecting us here in Semmo and Volusia County and is willing to roll up their sleeves to attack those issues and not be, again, distracted by, you know, selfish things.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, when do I don't understand when Congress became, you know, this this get rich quick scheme that it seems to have had, uh, this incredible increase in corruption and griff from those who are supposed to be our public servants?
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that is extremely frustrating to people who are like, you know, I'm doing everything right, and the only people I see get ahead are the people that are doing everything wrong.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, what would you say to a voter who feels like both parties have completely lost their minds?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: That I have some sympathy for that, uh, for that emotion because I do think that we have got folks that are out there that are focused on, you know, the wrong things.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I do think that in this country, uh, you know, we should have equal opportunity for all.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, folks ask, you know, why am I a Democrat?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm a Democrat because I believe in freedom of speech, I believe in freedom from want.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: I believe in freedom from fear.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: I believe that we should be asking ourselves what we can do for this country rather than what this country can do for us.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, those are words out of, you know, pretty famous Democratic leaders of our country uh throughout our history.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that people are desperate for that type of leadership again and that type of focus on what can make our country great rather than, you know, what is out there that is dividing us.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that the majority of folks here in Summer of Volusia County are very tired of politicians yelling at each other on TV or radio or in the news about uh, you know, personal attacks or or these issues that are basically invented to divide us.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: And people are ready to say, hey, we we're Americans.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: We have accomplished some of the greatest things that the world has ever seen.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get back to that.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, let's have some leaders that are ready to take care of these issues that are that are just making folks struggle day to day so we can get back to the point of being the great country that we know we can be and have been.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: You've lived a full life already.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Was there a moment when you looked at Congress and thought, you know what, I I have to do this?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I've been frustrated with Congress uh for a number of different reasons uh throughout sort of all of my uh life experiences, you know, in the Navy uh as a commanding officer, uh, you know, there was a instance where I had to stand up to to very senior leadership and say, look, I am not getting the resources I need to properly train my people who are going into incredibly austere conditions to go fight our country's wars.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I I refuse to deploy my folks without getting uh those resources that uh that that not only do we deserve to have, we need to have.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so incredibly frustrated with a Congress who seems uh to be just distracted by, you know, the next newest thing rather than providing for our troops that are in combat today.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, when I was um uh I did one year in uh in in private industry before I went to NASA, and I was helping lead a company uh that was trying to provide services, you know, to our government as well as to uh other businesses and uh trying to lead that uh company through COVID and and manage programs and take care of our employees, all of whom are deployed abroad, taking care of their health, uh ensuring that they were safe and properly quarantining on the way in and the way out.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I was very frustrated with what I felt like Congress's was lack of response or certainly a slow response and how we were going to protect our businesses so that they could protect their employees.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, lastly at NASA, you know, I mean, NASA was a great experience.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: And again, we've already talked about like just working with incredible teams.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: But to get, you know, some of our folks that are there in DC who seem to just be, you know, very selfishly following, you know, one program or another, uh, you know, it it's very hard to break through and talk to folks uh and get them to see a big picture.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it is a balance uh that folks should expect from their representatives to the federal government and making sure that our needs here in Seminole and Volusia County are taken care of, because I think that is what begets taken care of our country as a whole.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I've just been frustrated with Congress um when they seem to be more interested in what's good for them or what's good for their bank accounts rather than what's good for the people that they uh purport to represent.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: Could you give me a rundown on what current leadership looks like in Florida 7th and how that impacts regular people in the district?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think unserious leadership is is both fair and about the nicest way um, you know, that you can put it.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately, in Florida 7 with Congressman Mills, you know, we have the poster child for many of the things that I'm discussing.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, first of all, you have somebody who is unable to make good decisions in their own life, right?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: This is somebody that's been accused of domestic violence, of dating violence.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a person like that, that that should be immediately disqualifying.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're unable to make good decisions in your own life and for your own family, you've got no business being in charge of trying to, you know, represent folks and make decisions on their behalf.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then also you've seen in Congressman Mills, you know, this incredible selfishness uh and and these conflicts of interest, you know, uh doing activities and taking votes that, you know, would benefit his own business.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this guy is a foreign arms dealer that refuses to disclose what countries he sold weapons to.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, those weapons could be used, being used against American troops right now.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a guy who sits on an armed services committee and oversees some of these, you know, foreign arms sales.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's an incredible conflict of interest that again should be immediately disqualifying.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I think we've seen somebody who just uh in Congressman Mills who just aligns himself with again, whatever is the most divisive issue uh to continue to try to get people divided and distracted from the things uh that should actually be bringing us together.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I've already mentioned that, you know, Congressman Mills and his voting record, if even if we set aside, you know, these ethics problems and even if we set aside, you know, these conflicts of interest, we've got a guy who has just been voting to make life in Florida actively more actively voting to make life in Florida more difficult for folks.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and and people are gonna let him know in the ballot box in November that that is not what they expect from their representative.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm happy to provide a better uh opportunity for folks across the political spectrum in November for somebody who actually cares about what's going on here in Florida.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: You are certainly someone with a lot of experience creating a plan and carrying out a mission.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: What are the problems you would want to dig into like a mission from day one?
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think the mission here overall is to just restore trust and confidence in our government and the in the systems that we expect our government to provide us as, you know, members of society.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's the overall mission.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think the way you start doing that immediately is to dig into these things that are so such negatively affecting folks' lives right now.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, again, the the ACA subsidies expiring, that that is a that is a crisis of Congress's own making.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: If we can get the right folks in Congress, we can at least attack that immediately.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: On day one, I mean, in this district alone, we have over 45,000 people without health insurance at all since that decision was made by folks like Congressman Mills to not extend ACA subsidies.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: We've got over 150,000 people in this district alone that have seen their premiums go up two to four times, creating this, you know, really this fear and angst in families that they're one health emergency away from erasing all of the work that they've done to try to, you know, provide for their families and make a better life.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that is that's absolutely a day one thing.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, again, I think these tariff taxes, you know, first of all, this these these illegal implementation of tariffs across the board, not only are they hurting every single person in this district, Republican, Democrat, MPA, independent, whatever, you know, they are those are actively raising our prices.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: And what folks I think are, you know, only see when we start talking about it is it's squeezing our small businesses on both sides, right?
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: Increasing the cost of raw materials cause folks who even have the capacity to raise their prices, they need to raise their prices.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: So they lose customers.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: If they lose customers and business is going in a negative direction, they lose employees.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Employees that are dependent on their job to provide for their families, and in some cases dependent on their job for this very health insurance problem that we've just talked about.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I think standing up to uh, you know, this these tariff taxes, which have hurt our relationships abroad and have specifically hurt our families who are having a hard time make ends meet, not to mention our you know, farmers who, you know, some of our small farms and family farmers have had to give up on this season because these tariffs uh and and of course, you know, the supply chain problems that the war in Iran and the closure of the Straits of Formuz have caused, they can't they can't get a balance sheet, you know, quarter to quarter, much less week to week.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: And if folks can't plan, then they're unable to provide the very necessities uh that that we as a society uh need them to do.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, I think the tariff taxes needed in.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, lastly, I mean, this war of choice in Iran, uh, you know, which we've got one policy on Friday afternoon and another policy on Monday, which I think we can very fairly say is uh in order to try to uh influence a market uh that in order to benefit, you know, those closest to this administration, and and we've got a rubber stamp in Congressman Mills that just allows these things to happen.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: And the people that are paying the price for it are everyday people that you know our elected officials ostensibly should be trying to take care of.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: And instead of taking care of them, they're just enriching themselves and actively causing lives of folks in Florida to be harder.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that that's unacceptable.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I think part of your question was, you know, why am I running for Congress?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I'm running for Congress.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because our elected uh officials should be out there trying to make policies that allow us to do the bold things that, you know, continue to make our country a more perfect union and cre and uh continue to make you know society be able to advance and to create better opportunities and better foundations of opportunities for those that are coming behind us.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I just think that the current environment right now and you know our current representation uh seems to be only interested in in what's good for themselves rather than what's good for the country and its people.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: How important is it for the leader of a place to actually be from that place?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's hugely important to me.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, right?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm I'm a I'm a voter.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm gonna be voting for the people from judge to city commissioner to uh state house rep to state senate rep uh to you know governor and senator and and beyond.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's incredibly important for folks to, you know, understand the needs of the of their community.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that the people that are best positioned to do that are the ones who, you know, grew up and are members of that community.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, part of the reason why I'm in this is because I've seen, you know, my family, my neighbors, the community who's given me everything struggling.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I find that to be, you know, unacceptable.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, it's of utmost importance.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, there's different rules for you know different uh elected offices.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and you know, those those rules are are there for a reason.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: But for me, it's always going to be top of mind that whomever I'm voting for to represent me uh is uh you know well aware of and is certainly a part of the community that they are trying to represent.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: And um, that's that's why I'm proud to be running in Florida 7, the community, uh uh an area of Florida that has given me everything in my life.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: All right, last one.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: What promise are you making to this district and why are you ready for this job?
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: The promise I'm making to this district is that there is gonna be no one that they have ever voted for or ever voted against that is going to work harder for them.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh these we've talked about throughout this conversation the issues that need to be attacked immediately.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we've also talked about uh being able to get those issues taken care of so that we can focus again on what the future of our country looks like.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: So the promise I'm making to the folks in Seminole and Volusia County is nobody is gonna work harder and be more focused on the issues that they are concerned with and that they are struggling with than me.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: And what makes me ready to do that, you know, we talked about like again, I am born and raised in this district.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think I have very uh innate knowledge of what those concerns are.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: But also I've been given incredible opportunities in my life to, you know, learn how to be a good leader, to learn how to be an empathetic leader.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and, you know, I have been in areas where I've made life or death decisions, you know, with seconds to spare.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I've also been in areas where, you know, risk decisions that we are taking today have large, you know, exponential effects on where we're gonna be in the future.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that the experiences that I've had throughout my life, uh, to touch each of those things on the different spectrums of time, uh, you know, have created, you know, a very unique life experience that I'm looking forward to applying to be, you know, a good, responsible representative and and public servant to those folks uh here in someone Volusia County that deserve that.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: There are folks out there, not just throughout Florida, but throughout our country, that are very interested in making sure that we again restore trust and confidence in our government through responsible representation at all levels.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that's why I'm that's why I'm in this, and that's why I'm excited to keep fighting on behalf of the folks of uh uh here in Central Florida.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: Bale Dalton, thank you so much.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time on Blue Dog Radio.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: That was Bale Dalton, candidate for Congress in Florida's 7th district.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's a pattern to the conversation that bears repeating.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Family, place, service, crews, missions, veterans, NASA, and always Central Florida.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's a sense that public life should still be about responsibility and not performance.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: That matters in a district like Florida 7.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, if you're gonna build a House majority beyond obvious swing seats, you need candidates who fit the places they are running to represent.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: Bale Dalton sounds like Central Florida because he's from Central Florida.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: He talks about politics like someone who has seen what happens when people depend on you and work has to get done.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds like a blue dog.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: Leaders with roots, representatives with judgment, candidates who can talk about affordability, service, security, and government without sounding like they're reading from a script.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Blue Dog Radio.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you like the show, subscribe, share it with someone who cares about these things, and keep an eye on Florida 7th.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a district that will not be won with the same old politics.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: It will be won by whether voters look at Bale Dalton and see what his life has already shown.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: A man from this place, ready for the mission in front of him.